That stat alone should make desperate racing legends Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon more confident for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355. Stewart will start third, Gordon fifth.

Sprint Cup’s second and final road race of the season is scheduled for a 2:18 p.m. ET green flag in upstate New York. NBC Sports Network television coverage begins at 2 ET.  

Stewart and Gordon have combined to win nine races at the Glen over their careers, but neither has won anywhere on the Sprint Cup circuit this season.

Gordon, in his final Cup season, has three top-five finishes through 21 races. Stewart has none. Gordon is 10th in points, but has no guarantee of making the Chase without a win. Stewart, 25th in points, must win to make the Chase. Only the top 16 in points make the field.

These two have battled hard on the roads and have even had post race altercations. Gordon was “king of the roads” before Stewart stole his crown. Now neither is best at The Glen or Sonoma. Sprint Cup’s best road-race driver the previous five seasons, Marcos Ambrose, is no longer in the series.

So who is the new king of the roads?

Kyle Busch is making a good case for himself just because of winning at Sonoma in June. He’s won twice on each of the road courses, including a 2008 sweep.

But AJ Allmendinger has a legitimate claim as defending champion at Watkins Glen. He starts on the pole, where nine of the 32 Glen winners have started. Winning in consecutive years would put him with Ambrose, Stewart and Gordon, who have each done it.

And what if Gordon tried to grab his crown back? He hasn’t had a top-five finish at Watkins Glen since winning there in 2001, but he had the fastest lap during Friday’s final practice session. Last season he led the first 29 laps before having a mechanical issue.

Allmendinger gets the edge because start position is so important, but Busch is almost equal to the rating.  

Cheez-It 355 driver ratings

  • Results from the June 28 Sonoma race, the other road course on the Sprint Cup schedule. Sonoma is more of a technical course while Watkins Glen runs much faster.

Odds courtesy Westgate Las Vegas Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sports book director, has been setting NASCAR odds since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MicahRoberts7